An
awareness exercise (or process) is something you do once (or several
times) to experience something specific in your own consciousness.
Its purpose may be to discover something hidden, gain a new perspective,
or enter an altered state through which you can experience something
different than your normal day-to-day awareness.

An
awareness practice is an exercise that you decide to take on as
a personal challenge, repeating it over and over again in order
to strengthen a part of yourself. It is a structure for success,
a way of gaining a particular skill or mastery of some area of
Self. Physical practices are easy to identify, such as playing
the same piece of music on the piano until it is memorized and
easy to play, practicing a golf swing until you can control the
ball’s trajectory, or going to the gym regularly in order
to get fit, build strength, or lose weight. Examples of inner
practices include strengthening your will or your ability to make
decisions, increasing the power and focus of your attention, or
attainment of inner peace.

By
strengthening your inner muscles, you can gain personal mastery
in any area of your life, including your beliefs, attitude, motivation,
or ability to get things done. Greater inner strength improves
your relationships with others, broadens your mind, improves your
ability to handle change, and tunes you into your higher self
and God. Practices continue forever, even after mastery. The great
cello master Pablo Casals was in his eighties when he was asked
why he continued to practice three or four hours a day, even though
he was considered the best cellist in the world. He answered,
“Because I believe I can still get a little better.”
Buddhist monks call their meditation a “practice”
for the same reasons that doctors refer to their work with patients
as a medical practice. Practice doesn’t make perfect, as
the old adage claims. There is no such state as “perfect.”
Practice opens the way for new possibilities to emerge.

You
can’t think your way or feel your way into a skill. Skills
are gained through study and practice. Although visualization
of successful performance can help athletes achieve top performance
when combined with the actual physical movements, visualization
alone cannot produce a top athlete.

Visit
the Workshop and Coaching sections of this website to learn about
the powerful workshops we offer which provide customized training,
guidance, and “best practices” for your specific needs.

These
exercises in consciousness can be used as experiments to explore
your own consciousness, or as practices to strengthen your inner
muscles and to master your own life.